Wednesday, April 15, 2009

William Mills, who was recently released from jail after serving two years of a nine year sentence for an armed robbery he didn’t commit, has spoken out of his ordeal at the hands of Scotland’s failed justice system.

A man jailed for nine years for an armed robbery he did not commit has spoken for the first time about the impact on his family and their fears that his partner playing Good Samaritan may have led to him being implicated.

William Mills, 42, was in tears when he left court last week after senior judges ruled that he had suffered a miscarriage of justice, and says he is still reeling from the events of the past two years.

Liam O'Donnell, his solicitor, says he will now be seeking compensation for the ordeal, which included the father-of-two spending 12 months in prison.

Mr Mills told The Herald that the only connection between him and one of the police officers who identified him from the CCTV images was from an unusual and completely unrelated event some months before his wrongful arrest.

The officer had called at his home after following a trail of blood from a girl who had been slashed in the street and given assistance by Mr Mills' partner, Toni Stringfellow.

Despite DNA evidence linking another man to the robbery, the Crown Office last night confirmed that it planned to take no criminal proceedings against that other individual.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Office said: "The decision to prosecute Mr Mills was taken by Crown Counsel on the basis of an assessment of the evidence at that time.

"As soon as fresh information came to light, during the appeal process, the Crown instructed DNA analysis, and subsequently decided not to support the conviction. There are no criminal proceedings presently contemplated against any other person in connection with this incident."